All university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement. Do you think the advantages of this would outweigh the disadvantages?
Sample Response
It is sometimes suggested that every undergraduate should spend part of their degree in another country or on a work placementin a workplace. Although this requirement could create financial and practical difficulties, I believe its benefits would be greater, provided that universities offer suitable support.
Studying abroad can give students practicalan experience that is difficult to gain in a classroom at home. For example, a language student who lives in Spain is likely to improve much faster by using Spanish daily and by understanding local customs. Even students on courses such as engineering may learn to work with people whose working styles and perspectiveshabits and opinions differ from their own. This can make graduates more independent and adaptable, qualities that employers increasingly value. Similarly, a work placement allows undergraduates to apply theoretical knowledge to real problems. A business student may understand marketing ideas better after helping a company communicate with real customersspeak to actual customers. As a result, such experiences can improve both learning and career prospectsfuture job prospects.
However, making these activities compulsory would not be equally accessibleeasy for all students. Going overseas is expensive, especially when travel, accommodation and visas are considered. Some students also haveSome young people also have family responsibilities or health issues which make a long stay abroad unrealistic. In addition, not every placement is useful: students could end up doing routine tasks without learning relevant skills. If universities insist on the rule without providing funding or carefully vetting placement providerscarefully checking employers, it may increase inequality rather than offer a valuable opportunity.
Nevertheless, these disadvantages can be reduced. Institutions could provide grants, offerallow local placements, and offer alternatives for students who cannot travel. They should also approve placement providers and set clear learning goals. With these measures, a period outside the usual university environment would give most undergraduates practical skillsabilities, confidence and wider perspectives. Therefore, I consider the advantages to outweigh the disadvantages.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response is strongest in its balanced, fully developed evaluation: the position remains clear, and relevant examples connect educational and employment benefits to practical disadvantages. Its main limitation is that a few points, especially the work-placement example and proposed safeguards, remain somewhat general; the highest-priority improvement is to deepen one or two causal explanations so the comparison of benefits and costs becomes even more incisive.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response answers the comparative question directly, sustains a clear position, and develops both benefits and disadvantages with relevant support.
Develop the causal effect of one safeguard in greater depth to make the final weighing of advantages against disadvantages more incisive.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through a clear advantage-disadvantage-mitigation structure, with cohesive devices used naturally and effective paragraphing.
Make the transition from the disadvantages to the proposed remedies even tighter by explicitly linking each remedy to the problem it addresses.
Lexical Resource
A wide and precise vocabulary supports nuanced discussion of academic, practical, and employment-related issues with consistently appropriate word choice.
Replace the slightly general wording in the placement example with more specific professional language to sharpen precision further.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex sentence structures is used accurately and flexibly, with virtually no grammatical interference.
Continue refining the balance of clauses in longer sentences so that dense comparisons remain as concise as the simpler statements.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
All university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement. Do you think the advantages of this would outweigh the disadvantages?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.